Ex-NFL player going to jail for defrauding investors

JACKSON — Former NFL football player Jeffrey Walker is going to prison for defrauding investors in four states of more than $2 million in what prosecutors say was a land development scheme involving property in China.

A federal judge sentenced Walker to 45 months for wire fraud and 36 months for tax evasion. The sentences will run at the same time. Walker must pay $2.045 million in restitution to investors.

Walker pleaded guilty in October to wire fraud and tax evasion involving a planned resort in China. Prosecutors say he used investors’ money for personal items including a luxury van and a boat.

FBI and IRS officials say investors in Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida and Arizona made interstate bank wire transfers to one of his companies. One sent a $200,000 check.

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